AMN Reviews: The Group – The Feed-Back (1970; RCA / 2014; Schema)

The Group was actually an incarnation of Franco Evangelisti’s Gruppo di Improvvisazione di Nuova Consonanza, an avant-garde Italian collective influenced by experimental rock, modern classical and free jazz. The Feed-Back was a one-off release from Evangelisti and seven collaborators, including movie score guru Ennio Morricone on trumpet. Consisting of three tracks running a total of less than thirty minutes, The Feed-Back is a short burst of scratchy, dissonant energy. Comparisons to electric Miles Davis, Luigi Nono, AMM, and The Beatles are not out of order. The horns layer drones, textures, and squeals, and are interlaced with jangly guitar over a busy rock drumbeat, not unlike the rhythms of their German Krautrock contemporaries. The Feed-Back could even be viewed as a proto-prog offering, as mid-70’s Italian group Area evokes similar sounds on their more outside releases (such as Event ’76). A welcome reissue.